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About this project

Going to the gym sucks.

The summer after college graduation we never set foot in the gym. Not once. We camped, climbed, cliff-dived, swam, and danced all summer long. We were in the best shape of our lives. We haven’t stopped talking about the “Summer of ‘08” since then.

Fast forward to now; we have given in to our careers, signed leases, and have gym memberships. Heck, one of us even has a puppy. That carefree summer is long gone, but what we've found is that there are moments every day where we can capture a little bit of that wildness. For us, those moments are not found at the gym. They are in runs to the park, quick lunchtime workouts, and weekend afternoon hikes.

We invented monkii bars to bring a little bit of wildness to everyday life, to transform workouts into adventures, and to reawaken the passion inside of each of us to live stronger.

What will monkii bars reawaken in you?

Meet monkii bars.

Everyone remembers playing on old-school monkey bars as kids. It was awesome—a physical challenge with a little bit of thrill and pure fun. Guess what, most parks today don't have monkey bars because "they're too dangerous." Well, we still love that feeling of swinging high above the ground, being active, and challenging ourselves. We wanted to tip our hats to the original while still representing the future of working out.

There are 3 things we're obsessing over while making monkii bars:

Ensuring it is easy to take them anywhere by making them lightweight and self-contained.

Designing them so they are a conversation piece, something that looks as good as it functions, something you can display proudly instead of stuffing in the gym bag.

Making them flexible enough to truly use anywhere, but simple enough to set up with an elevated heart rate.

The places you'll be using monkii bars demand the highest quality materials.

We also wanted our materials to be a reflection of the beautiful locations you'll take them. With durability and nature in mind, we carefully selected materials that are incredibly strong, sustainable, and timeless.

We love the freedom.

Some days we catch ourselves daydreaming about awesome locations to use monkii bars. The best part is that they're just as easy to use outside as inside. The bottom line is that monkii bars turn the world into your gym. Our Setup Anywhere Guide is included with each pair of monkii bars and includes all of our favorite spots to work out.

Help Us

We have working prototypes which have been tested, reviewed, and enjoyed by athletes, climbers, gear heads, yogis, strength coaches, crossfitters, and others. With your support, we can begin manufacturing so we can get monkii bars into our backers' hands worldwide. Your contribution will help fund the expensive tooling for our initial production run.

Start Something

We put a lot of effort into taking monkii bars from an idea to a dozen sets of working prototypes. However, this isn't enough. As fun as it is seeing a select few (really important) people get a pair of monkii bars in their hands, we want to make a much greater impact. We are ready for production, but we just don’t have the resources to launch at the scale necessary to make it happen.

That Matters

The whole reason we even started this journey was because we wanted to inspire a community of people to embrace their wildness and become more active in the outdoors.

With Soul

So we decided the best way to do this was to put everything we had into a great Kickstarter campaign. It’s a way to build a community, to prove that people believe not just in the “what,” but also the “why.” If Kickstarters back our project, then we will be able to continue this journey, follow our passion, and produce what we truly believe is a great product that matters.

Dan is our full-time athlete and part-time caveman; he applies his survival skills and and extensive knowledge of strength training to take those pursuing athletic greatness to the next level.

David provides strong leadership, which he has honed while starting social ventures abroad, taming wildfires, and conquering menacing mountains; his experience keeps this rowdy band working together.

Jared brings meticulous detail and an unwavering focus on the user experience from his years designing and planning museum exhibitions dotted all around the world.

Tyler has worked on new materials technologies like high-performance breathable textiles. Top-tier gear brands, such as The North Face, are currently using the technologies.

Ryan is our chief storyteller and balances our team of athletes, engineers, and business minds with the his passion and eye for the arts.

Eric can turn half-baked ideas into thoughtfully crafted digital media. He is obsessed with portraying the beautiful aesthetics of our product in an equally appealing way in the digital universe.

Mr. Monkii has been integral in keeping the team in good spirits through his wily antics and smashingly dry wit.

Never compromise on elegant industrial design reflecting the beauty of nature while seeking out the highest quality sustainable materials.

Relentlessly apply our deeply rooted love for the outdoors in every decision we make.

Use passionate creativity to inspire and motivate people around the world to embrace their inherent wildness and get active in the outdoors.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped us along our journey and never ceased believing in us. A special thanks to:

Risks and challenges

We have surrounded ourselves with experts in engineering and manufacturing, successfully worked through a multidisciplinary accelerator at Colorado State University, and have begun building a community of supporters. We have gone through several prototype iterations to get to where we are today. Our current working prototypes largely use the same production processes we plan to use to fulfill our backers’ rewards. Specifically, the hard maple grips, aluminum sleeve, and aluminum end caps were all machined using scalable processes from trustworthy suppliers.

We also included rapid prototyping technology like 3D printing in order to avoid the high cost of a tool for injection molding. Our successful campaign will allow us to purchase the molds necessary to produce high quality plugs at scale. This will be a much a more efficient and reliable production method, but it still remains new ground for us.

As we transition to full-scale production after this successful Kickstarter campaign, we are confident that we can fulfill our promises to our backers and have monkii bars in their hands this summer. We are committed to being transparent and keeping our backers in the loop.

We don’t expect everyone to actually run with monkii bars in their hands, they’re portable enough to stick into a CamelBak or tuck into your LuluLemons. We have designed a specific carrier made for hands-free transport of monkii bars.

We used 2 carabiners and some nylon runners. We have plans to develop a door attachment made specifically for monkii bars, as a “stretch goal”, which will appear on this page if we are fortunate enough to reach our initial goal.

Yes! However, Kickstarter only lets you pledge once per campaign. This means that you just pledge the amount for as many as you’d like, and at the end of the campaign we’ll send you your placement order where you can confirm how many monkii bars you’ve ordered.

For example: if you want 2 sets of monkii bars at the $98 level. You would pledge 2 x $98 = $196. You would then select one set of monkii bars as your reward. After our campaign ends, you’ll get to fill out the order form for 2 sets, selecting which style.

That said, if you would like to add a reward you can do so as long as our campaign is live. You are free to modify your pledge amount and reward selection using the 'Manage your pledge' button.

The suspension line is incredibly sturdy. Spectra is used in rock climbing. So you can imagine all of the rubbing, scuffing, and scraping that occurs on the side of rock faces. We've had a pair of monkii bars that we've been using for over 7 months - no fraying or wear on the Spectra line at all! It's a really amazing fiber.

We will offer replacement lines, and expect they will be needed after years of use or if the line is misplaced.

Pledge $10 or more

Pledge $12 or more

46 backers

MONKII BRANCH DOOR ATTACHMENT—Makes it just as easy to use monkii bars indoors as outdoors. If you've already backed, just add $12 to your current pledge and you'll be able to select this add-on when we send out the post-campaign survey.

Estimated delivery:Aug 2014

You selected

Pledge $25 or more

26 backers

FLYING STUFFED MONKII—
If you aren't up for using monkii bars at your office, at least you can fling our branded flying monkey stuffed animal at your co-workers. Show off your monkii bars support by adopting one of these wild creatures. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Only ships to: United States

You selected

Pledge $74 or more

50 backers
All gone!

EARLY BIRD PAIR OF MONKII BARS—If you're adventurous enough to be one of our first backers, you'll get your choice of monkii bars at 40% off retail. Hurry because these will go quickly. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Estimated delivery:Aug 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge $98 or more

591 backers

PAIR OF MONKII BARS—Your choice of either the "Light" or "Dark" version of monkii bars shipped to you in time for your adventures this summer. This price point is for Kickstarter backers only—20% off of retail. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Estimated delivery:Aug 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge $98 or more

50 backers
All gone!

CURRENT BACKERS ONLY—TACTICAL BLACK MONKII BARS—We wanted to show our thanks to current backers, so for the same pledge amount as monkii bars you'll get the stealthy Tactical Black monkii bars with the blacked-out grip, tactical laser engraving, matte black Cerakote aluminum, slate grey plugs and line, and a gunmetal adjuster. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Estimated delivery:Aug 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge $147 or more

23 backers

CUSTOM LASER ENGRAVED PAIR OF MONKII BARS—Want to ensure everyone knows whose monkii bars are yours? Then choose this reward because you'll get to be creative and decide what word(s) is laser engraved into the hard maple grip of your pair of monkii bars. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Pledge $500 or more

10 backers
All gone!

LIMITED EDITION BAMBOO PAIR OF MONKII BARS—These handmade beauties will turn heads and drop jaws. A solid piece of Central American Bamboo will be turned down by hand making these monkii bars the most lightweight and sexy in existence. These will be laser engraved limited to only 10 pairs ever produced. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Estimated delivery:Aug 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge $5,000 or more

1 backer
Limited (1 left of 2)

HOT AIR BALLOON WORKOUT—You'll join the monkii bar team in Boulder, CO for a day of extreme working out. You'll be safely harnessed in for a high altitude workout hanging beneath a hot air balloon. Includes a 3 night stay in Boulder, dinner with co-founders, a custom pair of monkii bars, and a hot air balloon flight/workout. You'll also be a part of our adventure through project updates and secret events for backers only.

Estimated delivery:Jun 2014

Funding period

Feb 27, 2014 - Apr 7, 2014
(38 days)

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